Irish Genealogy News - Pages

Monday, 17 June 2013

Eneclann presents personal genealogy exhibition to Obamas

Eneclann's Fiona Fitzsimons and Helen Moss today presented a private genealogy session to Miichelle Obama and her two daughters in the Long Room in the Old Library, Trinity College Dublin.

Fiona gave an overview of the history of their family, which is better documented than that of other Irish-American presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton or even JFK. The Obamas’ story includes wig and shoemakers, merchants and farmers, and politicians.

While their deep ancestry (Kearneys, Donovans, etc.) are of Irish origin, an important line, the Benns (or Behn) were continental religious refugees who settled in Limerick before 1700.

The surviving paper trail enabled the Eneclann team to trace the family back to the 1600s.

The Obamas were introduced to a display of important documents from their Irish family history, including the parish register for Templeharry church in Moneygall (kindly lent by the Representative Church Body Library), maps from the National Library, and records from Trinity College Library.